Sanitary napkins with external padding



June 7, 1960 c, JOA

SANITARY NAPKINS WITH EXTERNAL PADDRG Filed April 9. 1957 IN VEN TOR.

Arramvsv) United States Pat nt This invention relates to sanitary napkins with external padding.

A sanitary napkin made according to the present invention promotes comfort and saves material. A pad of any appropriate type is made thinner and narrower than is usual. It may be enclosed in gauze in the usual way to provide support for the sanitary napkin, the gauze also being somewhat narrower than is usual.

Overallwidth is restored by external pads or cushions of cellulose which are confined within a filmy layer of non-woven fabric that is attached mechanically by threads or adhesive to the gauze, the attachment preferably being made before the gauze is wrapped around the pad proper. The length of these cushions and the supplemental wrappers may be shorter than the pad and, of course, very much shorter than the overall length of the gauze. One ply of the external cushion materialmay be impregnated with petroleum jelly or the like. Even when not impregnated, the external cushion with its non-woven fabric cover is much less harsh to the touch than is the exposed gauze conventionally used.

The cushions not only add comfort but increase the safety since they provide barriers which are not only absorptive of fluids but act as dams to confine the fluids and constrain them to enter the pad proper.

In the drawings:

Fig. 1 is a view in perspective of a sanitary napkin embodying the invention.

Fig. 2 is a diagrammatic view showing the relationship of the parts when the sanitary napkin is in use.

Fig. 3 is a view taken in cross section on the line 3-3 of Fig. 1.

Fig. 4 is a greatly enlarged detail view representing a small fragment of the structure shown in Fig. 3 within the outline of the circle drawn in Fig. 3.

Fig. 5 is a plan view of a web of gauze showing the attachment of the cushion thereto and showing in broken lines the position which the pad will occupy.

Fig. 6 is a view taken in transverse section on the line 66 of Fig. 5

Fig. 7 is a fragmentary view similar to a portion of Fig. 5 and showing adhesive rather than stitching used as a means of connecting the non-woven fabric 21 to the gauze 15.

Fig. 8 is a diagrammatic view in side elevation showing the assembly of a number of plies of cellulose to provide a web of cushion material.

The sanitary napkin pad per se may be fabricated according to any desired structure. In one well-known device, the pad comprises superimposed bats 10 and 11laminated with intervening moisture distributing plies 12 (Fig. 3) and confined between facing plies 13 and 14 of tissue. The pad thus assembled is wrapped in a gauze wrapper 15, the ends of which project well beyond the pad as shown in Fig. l for connection to a belt or the like.

In accordance with the present invention, the gauze web 15 is provided prior to the wrapping of the pad therein with a pair of cushions generically designated by reference character 16. Each of these comprises a num ber of plies of cellulose material (four being used in practice) of which only the outer ply is impregnated with petroleum jelly. The three unloaded plies are resp eptively designated by reference characters 17, 18 andf19 in Fig. 4, while the impregnated ply is shown at 20, the

stippling representing the petroleum'jelly impregnation;

These several plies are bound in assembledrelation by a ply 21 of non-woven fabric which is sufiiciently wider.

than plies 17, 18, 19 and 20 so that its margin 22 extends beyond the cellulose layers of the cushion and is mechanically connected at 23 with the gauze 15 of the sanitary napkin. This connection may be rows of ordinary sewing machine stitching as shown in Figs. 1, 4, Sand 6 or it may be rows of adhesive 230 as indicated in Fig. 7; 111.-

either case, the margins of the non-woven fabric are mechanically secured exteriorly to the gauze 15, thereby holding the cellulose plies to the gauze in that area in which the gauze encircles the margins of the pad. The position of the pad is indicated by the outline in broken lines which appears at 25 in Fig. 5. As is evident both in Fig. 2 and Fig. 3, the cushion extends completely around the side of the pad, being connected to the gauze adjacent opposite faces of the pad.

After the two cushions are attached to the gauze in mutually laterally spaced positions, as shown in Fig. 5, the gauze is assembled to the pad 25 by wrapping the gauze about the pad leaving the cushions at the outside as shown in Figs. 2 and 3.

The non-woven fabric is readily permeated by the petroleum jelly impregnation of the outer ply 20 of cellulosic material which comprises the cushion. Even without such permeation, the non-woven fabric has a characteristically smooth and non-abrasive surface, wholly different from that of the gauze which provides the outer cover for the conventional sanitary napkin. As clearly appears in Fig. 2, when the napkin is in use, the portion of the wearers body which is engaged under pressure by the sides of the folded sanitary napkin contacts only the smooth and desirably lubricated nonwoven fabric at the exterior of the cushion, being spaced by the cushion from the gauze.

This leaves uncoated portions of the pad exposed to receive body secretions and provides protection for those portions of the pad to which the secretions are directed by the barrier plies in the center thereof. In other words, there is a multiple thickness of added material provided by the cushion around the edge of the downwardly turned side margins of the pad.

Fig. 8 diagrammatically illustrates how the several plies of cellulosic material 17, 18, 19 and '20 are drawn from their respective supply rolls, only the latter being passed between rolls 30 and 31 for supplying melted petroleum jelly 32 from trough 33. The transfer roll 30 is equivalent to that used in gluing operations. The webs 17, 18, 19 and 20 are laminated together between guide rolls 34 and 35 and are wound on mandrels 36 in readiness for use. There will be some transfer of petroleum jelly from impregnated ply 20 to plies 17, 18, 19 successively, but this is desirable and does not affect the operation of the cushion as above described.

I claim:

1. As a new article of manufacture a sanitary napkin comprising a pad having a wrapper, and external cushions extending along the side margins of the pad wrapper, the cushion comprising absorbent material and a width of a supplemental wrapper of non-Woven fabric, the latter be ing wider than said material and having a marginal connection with the wrapper of the pad.

2. In a sanitary napkin the combination with an absorbent pad and a wrapper having projecting ends, of cushions each comprising a number of plies of cellulose Patented June 7, 1960 Y Y 3 I tissue and a supplemental confining wrapper, means connecting the supplemental confining wrapper directly to the wrapper first mentioned, the said cushions extending about the margins of the pad externally of the first mentioned wrapper. i y

' 3. The device of claim '2 in which at least one of said cushion plies adjacent the supplemental wrapper carries alubricant. i

4. The sanitary napkin of claim 2 in which the pad comprises a plurality of bats and an intervening distributing ply, each of said cushions extending about the pad with its margins substantially parallel to opposite faces of the pad and embracing a margin of the distributing ply.

5. A sanitary napkin comprising the combination with a pad comprising a plurality of bats and an intervening distributing ply, of a gauze wrapper encircling the pad and having ends projecting therebeyond, and an external cushion of channel shape in cross section connected externally to the gauze wrapper extending about the respective side margins of the pad enveloped in said wrapper, each such cushion comprising a plurality of plies of cellulose shorter than the pad and a ply of non-woven fabric in which the plies of cellulose'are confined, the ply of nonwoven fabric having greater width than the plies of cellulose and projecting laterally therefrom and having direct mechanical connection along its margins with said gauze.

6. The sanitary napkin of claim 5 in which at least one of the plies of cellulose has a petroleum jelly impregnation.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 

1. AS A NEW ARTICLE OF MANUFACTURE A SANITARY NAPKIN COMPRISING A PAD HAVING A WRAPPER, AND EXTERNAL CUSHIONS EXTENDING ALONG THE SIDE MARGINS OF THE PAD WRAPPER, THE CUSHION COMPRISING ABSORBENT MATERIAL AND A WIDTH OF A SUPPLEMENTAL WRAPPER OF NON-WOVEN FABRIC, THE LATTER BEING WIDER THAN SAID MATERIAL AND HAVING A MARGINAL CONNECTION WITH THE WRAPPER OF THE PAD. 